8/24/04

LEST WE FORGET

It seems that Greg thinks he’s the only one who is setting NHRA Pro Stock history. What about Bob Glidden? Greg, apparently, has ignored what Bob accomplished in the past.....several dominating seasons....winning every race in 1987.....23 races in a row as No. 1 qualifier.....50 straight round wins.....etc....etc. Perhaps your online magazine will some research on Bob and give some equal time to the greatest pro stock driver of all time, Bob Glidden. I have nothing against Greg, but it’s a darn shame that today’s stars are so full of themselves that they can’t pay homage to the accomplishments of past masters in the sport.

Larry Cleek

NITRO ANYTHING SOUNDS GOOD

The blast from 8/9 brought up some interesting topics, like more nitro. Pro

Mods on nitro? Sounds good to me. I remember mean-looking, bad-ass cars (altereds and modified coupes/roadsters) running nitro when I first went to the SoCal tracks. The first nitro car I ever saw was Bruce Woodcock in the Rakers Car Club (Long Beach, CA) fuel modified coupe. It was January 1961 and Fontana was hosting a big bash. We had just got to the track and were standing at the fence behind the race car at the launch. Oh my God! What was that exotic, great smell-nitromethane, baby! And, then there was the greatest icon of the class for all time—Red Greth in the Speed Sport Roadster. I saw that car at Riverside and Long Beach. And, don’t forget Leffler-Loukas, S&S Automotive, Gary Cagle, and the many more that have been abandoned on the back roads of my brain (too much nitro). So, let’s bring ‘em back. Just keep pounding away at ‘em, Burk. Nitro modified coupes, nitro modified roadsters, nitro altered coupes, or Pro Mod. Call them what you want. Nitro Jr dragsters?

We used to go to Wilcap in Torrance and buy a gallon of nitro and a gallon of methanol for our home-made motor scooters, load ‘em up, and head off for Bakersfield. Get ‘em nice and hot, dump the gasoline, and then put the good stuff in. Bakersfield had such huge pits, there was plenty of room for banzai runs. This lasted about an hour or two on Friday before we’d detonate the hell out of them. Just left them there and built new ones for the next year.

VRA, save me. NHRA is boring me to death. Get rid of Pro Stock and Pro Bike and replace them with nitro Pro Mod (all of the above) and nitro bike. I think your idea is great, Burk. So, quit wondering and get ‘em to do it. Shoot, I’ll take nitro Super Gas.

Steve Justice
Pinole, CA

WHERE ARE THE TURBOS?

The internet banter has gotten old... its like childhood playground antics... who’s the big kid in the yard, and just how bad is he?  It seems that Pro Mod has become a rivalry of who has the best toy on the playground. Now, with the idea of Pro Mod being the most wild, unruly, no holds barred doorslammers on the planet, there seems lately a lot of Big Kids stepping on the new kids toes. Everyone knows the power struggle between injected and blown combinations. The Internet is full of power struggles between the two, where blowers actively turn their noses down on the “inferior” injected combinations, and the fact that they must incur restrictions to make them competitive. “We have the biggest, best toy.” Yet when a new kid hits the schoolyard, and challenges this reign, some people run scared. Which brings up my point, why aren’t Turbocharged applications allowed to run in Pro Mod?

Erica Ortiz